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How I Activated Exchange Server 2019 After Installation
After successfully installing Exchange Server 2019 in my environment, the next important step was activating it with a valid product key. Without activation, the server runs in a trial mode for 180 days. In this post, I’ll walk you through how I activated Exchange Server 2019 using PowerShell. Step 1: Understanding Exchange Editions Before activation,…
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🔐 Bulk Windows Activation with KMS: What I Did and How It Works?
As a system admin, one of the common tasks I handle is activating Windows across multiple machines in an organization. If you’re managing a business network, activating each machine individually with a retail key would be a nightmare. That’s where KMS (Key Management Service) comes to the rescue. In this post, I’ll break down what…
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🔐 How I Restrict Exchange Server ECP Login to Specific IP Addresses
As part of my ongoing efforts to secure my Exchange Server, I decided to restrict access to the Exchange Control Panel (ECP) to only a few trusted IP addresses. This helps minimize the attack surface, especially since ECP is a web-based interface that could be a potential target for brute-force or credential stuffing attacks. 📌…
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🔐 Managing Local Admin Passwords Securely with LAPS in Windows Server 2025
Introduction As a Windows Server admin, one of my top priorities is keeping systems secure—especially when it comes to local administrator accounts. That’s where LAPS (Local Administrator Password Solution) comes in. With Windows Server 2025, Microsoft has integrated the new LAPS features natively into the OS, making it even easier to manage local admin passwords…
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🧠 Advanced Subnetting for System Administrators – Explained Simply
If basic subnetting is about splitting a network, advanced subnetting is about doing it efficiently, securely, and strategically to support growth, isolation, and troubleshooting. As a sysadmin, I use subnetting to design networks for branch offices, segment services like printers or VoIP, and avoid IP conflicts. 📌 Recap: What Is Subnetting? Subnetting breaks a large…
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Why Every System Administrator Must Know Networking – A Basic Guide to IP Addressing and Beyond
As a system administrator, I’ve come to realize that knowing networking isn’t just a bonus skill—it’s absolutely essential. While I primarily deal with servers, Active Directory, Exchange, and backups, none of it works without solid network connectivity. That’s why I want to break down the basic networking concepts in a simple, layman-friendly way. This will…
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👉 How I Customize the Outlook on the Web Language Selection Experience
When users log into Outlook on the web (OWA) for the first time, they’re greeted with a page asking them to choose their language and time zone. While this is helpful, in many enterprise environments I manage, I prefer to streamline the login experience by pre-configuring these settings—especially when the default values are always the…
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🔐 How I Changed the Disclaimer Text on the OWA Logon Page in Exchange Server
In my Exchange Server environment, I needed to add a security disclaimer to the Outlook Web App (OWA) logon screen. Exchange doesn’t provide a PowerShell parameter to set this text, so I customized the OWA logon.aspx file manually. Here’s how I did it step by step. 📁 Step 1: Locate the OWA Logon Page C:\Program…
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🔐 What Happens After OWA Login? Understanding Exchange OWA Customization Scope
In my previous blog, I explained how to customize the Exchange OWA login page — changing the favicon, title bar text, sidebar color, and default images like owa_text_blue.png and olk_logo_white.png. But after logging in, I began to wonder: “Will these customizations stay visible after login?”“Can I customize the OWA mailbox interface too?” Let’s explore what…
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🎨 Customizing the Exchange OWA Login Page
Favicon | Title Bar Name | Sidebar Color | OWA Logo Image In this blog, I’m sharing how I personalized the Exchange OWA (Outlook Web App) login page to better reflect my organization’s branding. I made visual changes to: These small tweaks make the login page look more professional and help users feel like they’re…